James Franco Further Addresses Sexual Misconduct Claims on Late Night

On the heels of his recent Golden Globe win, multiple women have, via Twitter, accused him of sexual misconduct. Franco shared his side of the story with Stephen Colbert on The Late ShowTuesday, and he further addressed the allegations in an interview with Seth Meyers on Late Night Wednesday. “I was sent a couple of the tweets. So yeah, I did read them. I haven’t responded,” the Disaster Artist actor said. “The ones I read were not accurate, but one of the things that I’ve learned is that this is a conversation that obviously needs to be had. There are people, women and others, who have not been a part of this conversation. I truly believe, and why I was wearing the pin, is that they need to be a part of this conversation. I support them.”

Meyers referenced tweets from Ally Sheedy, who appeared four years ago in Franco’s The Long Shrift, his off-Broadway directorial debut. After Franco won the Golden Globe, Sheedy wrote, “Please never ask me why I left the film/TV business.” Sheedy later deleted her tweets, without explanation, and Franco said he didn’t understand her motives. “I had a great relationship with her. She took the tweet down. I don’t know. I really don’t,” he said, adding that he hadn’t reached out to her. When Meyers asked if he was “curious” about Sheedy’s tweets, Franco responded, “I don’t know. It was so shocking. I don’t know. I just…I guess I’m just letting it be.”

Meyers then asked Franco if he’d taken a moment to “look back and question” his past behavior, given how many men in his industry have been accused of sexual misconduct in recent months. “I think what I really learned, and being here this week, and that show that we were [at]—it was so powerful in there. Like I said, there are stories that need to get out. There are people that need to be heard. I have my own side of this story, but I believe in these people that have been underrepresented getting their stories out enough that I will hold back things that I could say just because I believe in that much,” he said. “If I have to take a knock because I’m not going to try and actively refute things, then I will, because I believe in it that much.”